


A Christmas Carol

by origami10



Category: No. 6 (Anime & Manga), No. 6 - All Media Types, No. 6 - Asano Atsuko
Genre: Inukashi and Rikiga are mentioned but don't feature
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:32:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22044895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/origami10/pseuds/origami10
Summary: Shion rewrites A Christmas Carol for Nezumi to perform.A gift for @grythil on tumblr for the 2019 No.6 Secret Santa.
Kudos: 4





	A Christmas Carol

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gyrthil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gyrthil/gifts).



> Note: I’m not sure what version of the names you’re familiar with, but Nezumi=Rat and Inukashi=Dogkeeper~

A chill had crept into the air outside, so Shion was nestled on the sofa with his feet tucked up for warmth, as Nezumi stirred a pot of soup on the stove.

Shion closed the hardback book he had been reading. “Nezumi. You should do this as a play at your theater!”

Nezumi didn’t bother turning away from the soup to give his dry, sarcastic reply. “And what play would that be, Mr. Director?”

“ _A Christmas Carol_ , by Charles Dickens. See, there used to be this holiday called ‘Christmas,’ which was all about giving things to other people instead of hoarding them all for yourself. I think it would be great if you could tell more people in West Block about it! It would be ideal if some people from No.6 could see it, because they have the most resources to share, but we could at least-“

“No.”

Nezumi had heard enough of Shion’s foolishness by now to let most of it slide in one ear and out the other, but this was beyond ridiculous. He had read _A Christmas Carol_ , and it was a fine story, but hardly one with a moral that the residents of West Block could do anything more than jeer at.

“I’m not saying you’d need to recreate Victorian England. I think I could rewrite it and make it relevant for the people here!”

“You? Rewrite? _Charles Dickens?_ ”

“There’s no harm in trying, right? You’re always encouraging me to learn more about the world, and I think it would help me understand life in West Block to try and get in the mindset of the people who live here.”

Nezumi rolled his eyes, and kept stirring the soup. “Fine, I’m not stopping you. There’s even some scraps of paper you could use tucked back there behind that stack of books. But don’t let it make you late for work with Inukashi, or distracted when walking through town. West Block is no place for daydreaming.” He figured he’d have to trail Shion to work tomorrow, just to make sure he didn’t get lost in thought and wander into danger, as he was still prone to do.

——————

Only three short days later, when Nezumi was sitting in bed reading, Shion jumped up from the corner of the sofa where he had been madly scribbling for several hours not just tonight, but both of the previous evenings as well.

“Nezumi! It’s finished!”

Nezumi considered feigning that he had forgotten what Shion was working on, but that wouldn’t serve any purpose, and honestly he was a little interested to see if this boy from the bubble could put any semblance of creativity into words. He took the stack of papers that Shion offered him, and began to leaf through it.

The handwriting was easily legible (no surprise there), and without realizing it, Nezumi found himself lost in the story.

In place of Scrooge, a character representing No.6 itself was confronted by another character from the correctional facility, who took the place of Scrooge’s late business partner, Jacob Marley. The Marley character warned the No.6 character that unless it heeded the warnings from its past, present, and future, it would be the next to get thrown into the hell represented by the correctional facility.

Shion had used what little he knew about the land, town, and people living in West Block before No.6 was created to depict the ghosts that showed what mistakes No.6 had made in its past as it slowly shut out the people beyond the city walls.

The ghosts of the present were the current residents of West Block, some based on recognizable characters from town. They showed the No.6 character the starving children and freezing households that it ignored everyday just outside its walls.

Shion had been smart enough not to use the parasitic bees word-for-word in the story, but the ghosts of No.6’s future showed a similar kind of looming destruction if No.6 kept up its trend of looking only inward. Nezumi couldn’t help but notice that the character laughing in the face of the No.6 character about its imminent downfall wore a leather jacket and quoted some lines of Shakespeare….

Nezumi hadn’t meant to read all of what Shion had written in a single sitting, but when he reached the final curtain call, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.

He shoved the pages back at Shion. “Nope. Won’t work. They’ll never put it on.” He wriggled down into bed and pulled the covers up to his nose, hoping Shion hadn’t seen the way his mouth had hung open in amazement before he had remembered to put back on his usual sneer.

“But you liked it, didn’t you?” Shion flopped on the bed and said, close to Nezumi’s ear. “I think you could be in it. How many people do you usually have to do productions at the theater? Maybe I could get Mr, Rikuga to be in it. I bet he could at least help me look for costumes.”

“Shion, for the second and last time, the theater manager is not going to put on a play written by you.”

“But don’t you think it would lift people’s spirits in the cold, dark winter? We may not have Christmas anymore, but it could give them some hope, and remind them to look out for others.”

Nezumi rolled over and turned to stare coldly at Shion. It was so hard to maintain his severity every time he looked into those warm eyes that melted his heart even now as he spoke, but he reminded himself it was for Shion’s own good. “Hope is the last thing you should be giving people here. It’ll do them the opposite of good.”

“But-“

Nezumi sighed loudly and turned back away from Shion. “Enough buts. I’m trying to get some sleep, and you should too.” He closed his eyes for emphasis.

He could feel that Shion was a little miffed at his reaction and how abruptly he had cut short the conversation, but Shion must have been getting a better read on him than Nezumi dared allow himself to believe, because Shion simply straightened the pages, left them on the table, got ready for bed, crawled in beside Nezumi, and fell asleep.

Nezumi listened to his soft breathing for a long time before he finally sank into darkness.

——————

By the time Shion awoke the next morning, Nezumi was already gone. He looked briefly at the table, in case he had to make some edits, but as he had suspected, the papers were also gone. He fixed himself some breakfast and got ready to leave the house. He’d stop by the clothing store with Mr. Rikiga on the way home.

——————

“Mommy, pick me up, I want to see!”

The theater was packed with adults with children, adults without children, and children who acted like adults. It had been Shion’s idea to have the admission charge be an item of food that would be redistributed amongst the spectators once it was time to leave. It was standing room only.

It was unlike anything Nezumi had ever seen in the theater. Not that he was nervous with all these people here, of course not. But the atmosphere was charged with something he had never felt before. Could it be-? No. Still, soon a hush came over the audience, the lights went down, and it was time for _A Christmas Carol_ to begin. 

——————

The curtains reopened for the final group bow, and Nezumi was amazed to see that even the people who had gotten a seat were now standing up, clapping. Maybe a story about revenge on the oppressor had more appeal to the masses than he had originally cared to consider. Even so, the expression on everyone’s faces wasn’t merely anger, but… joy?

The curtains closed again, and by the time Nezumi had taken off his costume and crept around to the theater entrance, Shion, the theater manager, and the bodyguards who had been hired to protect the admission foodstuffs during the duration of the show were giving out chunks of bread and dried meat from a dwindling stack to the last of the spectators leaving the building.  
  
“Great job, Nezumi! You were fantastic!” Shion grinned and nearly threw his arms around Nezumi for a hug, before seeing his glare and thinking better of it. Still, Nezumi’s expression softened slightly, and he threw one arm around Shion’s shoulders. “All thanks to our writer. We might just have more for you, if the pay is right.” He nodded to the theater manager. Shion visibly brightened. “You mean…”

Nezumi raised his eyebrows and looked down at Shion. “All I’m saying is that there are a lot more books like the one this came from.” He grabbed some food from the pile, shoved some into Shion’s hands, and then grabbed Shion’s right hand with his left, heading into the crowd towards home. “West Block could be the birthplace for all kinds of stories yet to come.”


End file.
